Samaritans Get Into Bed With Paddy Power Betfair

[mushroom25]

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49511611

a good idea for the charity to work with the betting industry to offer insight into managing the vulnerable? or a reputationally destructive move for the Samaritans?

[Old_Geezer]

What's the betting that it won't last ?

[ummmm]

Bad move.

[Ken4155]

Potentially a good idea, imho. Anything that is done to help those addicted to gambling is fine in my eyes. It should, at the very least, be given the chance to make a difference and should not be written off before it has even begun.

[EDDIE51]

Excellent Idea !

[ummmm]

Gambling addicts are not loyal to their favourite bookmakers.

[Cloverjo]

This worries me. A family friend killed himself because of (we think) gambling addiction and debts.
I know The Samaritans need financial support, but....

[teacake44]

So how they going to know who is vulnerable / addict. By what I've seen most TV adds for gambling are on late at night, when there's a good chance the potential customer is tanked up, so more likely to have a flutter.

[Ken4155]

Perhaps, just perhaps, through working with the Samaritans, the betting firms will have much more of an insight into how to handle those with a gambling problem and to recognise the problem much earlier. As someone who has experienced 3 suicides in the family, I honestly do not believe that people take their lives for any one cause. Usually it is an amalgamation of reasons, each, in turn, adding to the woes of the suicide victim until they reach breaking point.

[bainbrig]

Appalling!

Paddy Power and the like are the CAUSE of so much misery. Are their consciences going to salved by throwing a few quid to the Samaritans?

What next? Allied Breweries sponsoring Alcoholics Anonymous?

BB

[teacake44]

The gambling firms can dress it up as much as they like, ( seen to be doing something ) but really doing nothing, they thrive on addicts and vulnerable people, and there's no way they are going to turn anyone away that's throwing money over their counter.

[Canary42]

I observed the same paradox when Save The Children got into bed with GSK in 2013.

[woofgang]

I think the answer to your question is that time will tell.

[Ken4155]

"Paddy Power and the like are the CAUSE of so much misery." Absolute tosh. The addictive nature of mankind is the CAUSE of so much misery. I have gambled since i was 14 - that's 50 years - and i have never wagered more than i could afford to lose. I have never borrowed or stole to gamble. I have never put gambling before living expenses. I have never chased my losses. Because i do not have an addictive personality and i do not believe in materialism. Most punters gamble for the fun of it and if they win a few pounds every now and then, all to the good. Some people smoke 5 a day, some 50. Some drink 2 pints a day, some 20. Some people have one snack a day, some snack all day long. Addiction.

[teacake44]

Ken, with respect were talking about folk who don't have the same self control as you.

[Ken4155]

Yes i know that, teacake. And, believe me, i know a few addictive gamblers who have lost almost everything they had, including families. But if you were to talk to them, they will shoulder their share of the blame for their misgivings. They will not lay 100% of the blame at the door of the betting shops. In fact, one person i know almost lost his house because he was addicted to lottery scratchcards! Who do you blame for that?

[douglas9401]

"What next? Allied Breweries sponsoring Alcoholics Anonymous?"

I was thinking more along the lines of Drinkaware.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/about-us/

[Cloverjo]

I hate seeing people buy loads of scratch cards in the hope of winning the fortune that would take them out of where they are. I see it all the time because I live in a seaside village where you wouldn’t come to if you could afford somewhere else. I want to tap them on the shoulder and say ‘Don’t do that, mate.’

[bainbrig]

Ken. My 'tosh' as you call it is also based on my experiences, in my case as an alcoholic.

Admirable self-control is one thing, and you are to be praised for it.

But when you blame some sort of innate problem that 'mankind' has always had, now you're talking tosh.

The big money-makers (whether in drink or in gambling) do their damndest to get ordinary joes and josephines to spend FAR more than they can afford on drinking or gambling. Blame THEM first, not the poor bloody victims!

BB

[Ken4155]

BB; i also had a drink problem a good few years back. It began with me feeling sorry for myself after the collapse of a long standing relationship but spiralled way out of control. I lost my job, found myself on benefits and spending nearly all of my money on the cheapest cider i could buy. I have woken up in many strange places, not knowing how i got there, groin area of my pants absolutely soaking, dry vomit on my face and clothes. Friends and family avoided me like the plague. Then, one day i woke up! I sought help and, slowly but surely, i turned a corner. Looking back, do i blame the off licences that sold me such cheap ale? Of course not. I blamed myself for being so weak willed. I sympathise with those who do have addictive natures, believe me i do, but they are in the vast minority. When you enter a pub, you may see the odd alcoholic - you will not see a pub full. Same as when you enter a bookies. These people need all the help they can get and if that comes from a charity sponsored by the bookies, then so be it.

[ummmm]

Teacake - gambling is not advertised just in the evenings. Adverts are on all day. A bingo site used to sponsor Jeremy Kyle!

I recently watched a programme on gambling. One gentleman had 44 transactions in one day (online gambling) he was contacted via email, said everything was OK and they let him carry on gambling.

Even if they suspended his account he'd just open another one.